


Something Sweet

by HyperKid



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Widojest Week, Widojest Week 2020, prompt: uselessly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:01:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25228750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperKid/pseuds/HyperKid
Summary: It was only a matter of time til Jester decided to try baking on her own. Caleb’s not sure how he got roped in to help, but it could have something to do with being unable to say no to her.
Relationships: Caleb Widogast/Jester Lavorre, widojest
Comments: 10
Kudos: 65





	Something Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> HK: I... am gonna fall down and die now :D   
> Mollymauk: One last soft lil bit of fluff?   
> HK: I just wanted a little something soft and fluffy to end on :) And I did pretty well I think!   
> Mollymauk: Not quite every day, but close!   
> HK: With any luck, next year we’ll have actually seen some improvements in the whole police brutality and racism, and we’ll all be allowed outside!   
> Mollymauk: Wouldn’t that give you less time to write?   
> HK: It’s possible, but it might also give me less rage.   
> Mollymauk: Fair. Although you do some good rage writing.   
> HK: It’s gotta be the right rage to get some good stuff out of it. 
> 
> WARNINGS!! Just some fluff and dubious baking today 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one but I might make some cupcakes now

Caleb couldn’t say exactly how he’d been talked into helping bake; it wasn’t something he’d ever really done before. Not since he was a child, anyway. But Jester had picked up the book in Nicodranas, and when it came down to it baking was rather a lot like magic. 

There was a list of components that had to be prepared in a specific way, to specific standards, and even though he doesn’t have much practice it’s the kind of thing he finds soothing. Though, that might also be the company. 

Jester emerged triumphantly from a cupboard, a large bowl held over her head in victory. 

“Got it! This should be big enough!” She declared happily, slapping it onto the table beside the row of ingredients Caleb carefully set out. He didn’t bother asking how she knew; Jester was as much a stranger to baking as he was, but it was the biggest bowl they owned. 

Happy with her find, Jester all but skipped around to peer at the book, a sunshine bright smile firmly fixed on her face. 

“Did you find everything okay Caleb?” She asked cheerfully, pouring over the instructions and looking up to check if there was anything missing. 

Putting his hands on her hips, Caleb moved her gently away from the book and nodded to the cupboard again. 

“Everything but a wooden spoon.” He nodded to the pile of bowls, measuring jugs, and pots that had been disgorged in the wake of Jester’s quest. Mixing spoons sat on the counter just above, decidedly in the splash zone. 

The smile Jester gave him wasn’t remotely apologetic, sweet as a sunbeam. 

“Great! Thanks Caleb!” Rising up on her toes she smacked a kiss on his cheek, skipping across her own wake of destruction and snatching a spoon. She tossed it to Caleb, then bent to shove the haphazard mess back into the various cupboards she’d raided in her search. 

It was by no means neat, but it made the floor usable again, and it wasn’t like the Nein had a damn clue where anything was here yet anyway. And Caduceus was probably already going to be fondly exasperated by the mess Caleb fully expected to make while baking. 

Happily resigned to some rolled eyes, Caleb set the spoon in the bowl and frowned critically at the recipe. They were making cupcakes; Jester had gotten the idea that they’d probably be pretty easy, and their little kitchen did have a functional oven and wood to fuel it. It seemed... reasonably straightforward? 

“I think we begin with the butter and sugar,” he said slowly, brow furrowing as he scanned the recipe again. “We might need a whisk.” 

Jester’s completely blank expression did not inspire confidence. 

“A what?” 

Caleb opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to work out how to describe a whisk. Finally he gave up and headed to the counter himself, looking through the utensils. 

“It’s... a... kind of a stick with... wire, but not bendy, but... I don’t think we have one,” he concluded with a shake of his head. 

At his elbow Jester frowned at the various utensils, then down at the box. 

“Will a spoon work?” She asked hopefully. Pulling out a smile, Caleb shrugged. 

It wasn’t like he’d done any baking since he’d left home. He didn’t know that it wouldn’t work. 

“I think so? We can certainly try.” 

Clapping happily, Jester skipped back to the table and grabbed the sugar. 

“Great! Then let’s try! I’ll get the sugar.” 

Caleb’s smile spread to something broader as he followed her back, carefully measuring out the butter. 

Under Jester’s enthusiastic efforts the butter and sugar were whipped faster than he’d expected, and just a little splattered across the room. Adding the eggs made the mixture more liquid, which in turn made the splatters fly farther. None of it seemed to affect her enthusiasm. 

Stifling a laugh, Caleb wiped a splatter from her cheek with his thumb, popping it into his mouth. 

“Cay-leeeeeeb! That’s got raw egg in it,” Jester protested with a giggle, brushing her wrist across her cheek where he’d touched. 

“Then try not to splash so much,” he teased back, reaching for the flour, “this should help stick it all back together.” 

Obediently Jester paused her whisking and set the bowl back down, ready for more ingredients. Her knowledge of baking was rudimentary at best, but so far it all seemed to be going well. 

Flour and baking powder went into the mix, and then it was time for a serious discussion. 

“What flavour cupcakes should we make?” Caleb asked, glancing around the kitchen. They had quite a few options available thanks to Caduceus, but not so many ideas about what would work without experience or practice. 

Jester hummed softly to herself, perusing the shelves again. 

“I have this feeling like cinnamon cake batter would taste pretty weird... and we won’t have any more cinnamon until we go back to Nicodranas,” she sighed, head dipping down into a frown. A little concerned, Caleb moved beside her, his hand resting awkwardly on hers. 

“Do... do you wish to return soon?” He asked softly. 

They always seemed to go through Nicodranas so fast, with no space to calm down or take in the sights. It must have been hard for Jester, to see her home town and her mother, and then be whisked away in a matter of hours. 

Peeking up between her lashes, Jester gave him a sheepish smile. 

“I... maybe? I don’t want to be selfish or anything, I know we’re very busy, but... it would be nice. The beach was so much fun, I’d love to go again.” 

Thinking back to their day in the sand, Caleb couldn’t help agreeing. It had been a first for almost all of them but they’d all found a way to make it their own. 

“Going for a swim was nice too,” he agreed, his hand moving from her wrist to her waist as he relaxed. Jester leaned into him, grinning. 

“Fjord scared the shit out of you,” she teased and Caleb laughed. 

“Almost literally. But he has always been a wet boy; I think he wanted to show off a little.” Not to mention the streak of mischief a mile wide that every single member of the Nein had a hand in. Stifling a giggle, Jester rested her head on his shoulder. 

“I think so. Next time we’re there we should get some good sea salt too. We could do sea salt caramel cupcakes!” Which sounded absolutely mouthwatering... and brought back the main issue for the moment. 

“We will definitely do that,” Caleb agreed with a nod, giving her a quick squeeze, “but we still need to choose a flavour for today.” 

Jester sighed reluctantly, like he’d asked her to do something very difficult, but obediently pulled away to look over their spice cupboard. A moment later she plucked a few bottles down and opened them to sniff. 

“I don’t know what half of these even are,” she admitted with a giggle, holding a bottle up to Caleb as well. Curious, he took a sniff too, frowning down at the bottle. 

“I am sure Caduceus knows,” he said slowly, trying to work out where the hell he’d tasted that. 

Jester laughed and dipped her finger into another bottle for a lick. 

“He knows what they taste like, but not always what they’re called. And I don’t know if he always knows what they taste like,” she added a moment later, a slight furrow between her brows as she recalled some of the firbolg’s stranger combinations. 

Caleb had to agree, a soft chuckle slipping free as he joined her in sniffing everything. Some of the bottles smelled very strongly and had to be closed almost immediately. Others barely smelled of anything at all, or smelled so strange that neither of them knew what they might be. 

In the end they wound up with cardamom and orange cupcakes, using some dried zest and essential oils from the fruit they’d picked up on the sea. Sniffing the two together, Jester swore blind they’d be delicious, and that she’d definitely heard of cupcakes like that before. 

Never one to doubt her, Caleb added the spices in tiny pinches, both of them tasting once it had been mixed in and deciding when to stop. It wasn’t exactly following a recipe anymore, but Jester was having so much fun. 

The tiefling almost glowed with happiness as they scooped batter into a little cupcake tray and slid them into the oven. They’d need to stay close to monitor the fire and keep the oven hot, and at first Caleb assumed they’d get a start on the clean up. 

Then Jester scooped all the dirty dishes haphazardly into the sink, shoved the leftover ingredients out of the way, and hopped up to sit on the counter, patting the space beside her. Grinning in spite of himself, Caleb stood between her legs instead, hands on her thighs. 

“We should tidy up,” he told her, doing a reasonable attempt to sound firm. Leaning forward to drape her arms across his shoulders, Jester grinned and dropped a kiss on his nose. 

“Do you want to lick the spoon?” She asked teasingly, her tail rising to wiggle it at him. Caleb gave her his very best deadpan. 

“That has raw eggs in it, Jester,” he told her solemnly. The tiefling dissolved into giggles and he took advantage of the moment to steal her spoon. 

The batter at least tasted pretty good. Jester managed a pout around her giggles and he offered her a nibble, unable to hide a fond smile. 

She was just... so bright and exuberant. So warm and full of life. He just couldn’t help smiling whenever he saw her happy and laugh, like they hadn’t a care in the world. Not even for how their cupcakes would turn out, because that was basically in the gods’ hands now. 

And then she leaned forwards, still smiling, and pulled him into a long, slow kiss. 

There hadn’t been one big moment to lead up to it. Not a sudden, shining revelation or anything that he could point to to say “here. It started here”. But there was no point in denying it either; he was uselessly in love with Jester Lavorre. 

**Author's Note:**

> HK: Hoping to get some more long running projects finished up soon, and some good soft PolyNein now that ship weeks are over! Have fun everyone!


End file.
